In the days after Russia invaded Ukraine, a venture capitalist in Riga, Latvia, helped arrange for people to flee the country.
Tech workers from the Russian capital as well as other cities were carried on the planes from Moscow. The planes moved about 300 software developers, entrepreneurs and other technology specialists out of the country, including 30 Russian workers from start-ups backed by Mr. Siniushin.
Thousands of Russian tech workers fled to Armenia in the weeks after the invasion after the planes flew south past the Black Sea. Thousands of Russians went to Georgia, Turkey, and other countries that accept Russian citizens without visas.
Between 50,000 and 70,000 tech workers left the country by March 22, according to a Russian tech industry trade group. They are part of a larger exodus of workers from Russia, but their departure could have an even bigger impact on the country's economy.
Interviews with more than two dozen people who are part of the tightknit community of Russian tech workers around the world show that the exodus will fundamentally change the Russian tech industry. The industry was once seen as a rising force in the Russian economy. Many of the bright young minds are leaving to build companies for the future.
Most Russian tech workers are part of the global market. They are either working for global companies or trying to build new companies for the global market, according to Mr. Siniushin.
The recent exodus reverses 10 to 15 years of growth in the Russian tech industry, according to an economist at the University of Chicago.
Tech is a small part of the Russian economy compared to the energy and metals industries. The loss of young, educated, forward-looking people could have economic ramifications for years to come, economists said.
Barry Ickes, head of the economics department at Pennsylvania State University, said that the long-run impact may be more significant than the short-run impact. Tech was a way of doing that.
Workers left the country because they objected to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, no longer wanted to live under the Putin regime, and feared they could not speak their minds if they stayed. They had money to flee the country because of their work in tech. They could work from anywhere with a laptop and internet connection.
They left because their companies pulled them out.
Some Russian tech workers did not have the necessary tools to do their work after foreign governments imposed sanctions on Russia. They were difficult to pay.
Some worked for companies in Russia while others worked for companies in other countries. Many start-ups in the United States and Europe were founded by Russian-born entrepreneurs. Russian entrepreneurs living abroad found these workers to be less expensive than specialists in Silicon Valley and other parts of the United States.
StudyFree, a San Francisco start-up that helps students find university scholarships and grants, employed about 30 workers in Russia, but keeping them there became a liability, so the company has moved them out.
If we still have employees in Russia, we won't be able to get as much funding.
A group on the internet messaging app Telegram that offered help for people moving from Russia to Armenia grew to as many as 18,000 members. Russian tech workers filled coffee shops and other public spaces, and as they jockeyed for places to live, rent prices rose significantly, according to many who worked to find apartments through the Telegram group.
We don't have enough quality apartments for highly educated people with high salaries and high standards, according to a former Google employee who is helping many Russians move to the city.
Armenia's economy minister said in an interview that the country was not trying to pull companies out of Russia, but that it would work to accommodate them if they decided to move.
The government is worried about giving Russian companies a nice place that is not too expensive where they can work because the tech community is providing support to their Russian friends. Mr. Kerobyan estimated that 43,000 people had moved from Russia to Armenia, half of whom had Russian passports.
Mr. Kerobyan said that a U.S. software company moved its Russian employees to two hotels in the heart of the city. X-tensive, a software development company in Russia, moved its employees to the city of Armenia because its main client, ServiceTitan, was founded there, he said.
The company said it was moving its workers out of Russia. X-tensive didn't reply to the request for comment.
Many of those workers may eventually move on to other places because of visa restrictions that require them to leave their current home after a certain number of days. Many are unsure where to go. Others are planning to move to up-and-coming tech hubs such as Lisbon and Dubai.
Artem Taganov, founder and chief executive of a Russian start-up called HintEd, said he knew about 70 other Russian companies who had fled to Armenia. Entrepreneurs who stay in Russia can only serve the local market.
Russia had a strong technology base before this started, Mr. Taganov said.
Russia produces talented software engineers and web developers. Telegram and Yandex have come from the country. China is a much larger country where businesses have succeeded by catering to domestic customers.
According to state media, the Russian government wants to keep tech workers in the country, offering lower tax rates, better mortgages and a promise that they won't be conscripted into the army. Last week, the prime minister of Russia called on Russian tech workers to create their own ecosystems.
The motherland gave you all you need to do your job, Mr. Mishustin said in his annual address to Parliament.
Many will stay in Russia to work for state-affiliated companies. They will face other challenges.
Modern software and internet services may need to be rebuilt. As sanctions limit availability, it may become harder to find crucial computer hardware.
The smartest tech workers have been leaving the country for years, but the pace is getting faster, according to Stepan Pachikov, one of Russia's first successful tech entrepreneurs.
Russia has become economically isolated from the world and restrictive at home, and Mr. Pachikov has little hope for the future. Russia has lost a lot of blood.
The reporting was contributed by Anton Troianovski.
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